The Prince Quotes

The Prince Quotes

Quote 1: "If you will diligently read and consider it, you will detect in it one of my deepest desires, which is that you will come to that greatness which fortune and your own qualities promise you. And if from your great height Your Highness will sometimes cast a glance below to these lowly places, you will see how undeservedly I endure the heavy and relentless malice of fortune." Dedication, pg. 13

Quote 2: "From this it follows that all armed prophets have succeeded and all unarmed ones have failed; for in addition to what has already been said, people are by nature changeable." Chapter 6, pg. 27

Quote 3: "Therefore, if you are a prince in possession of a newly acquired state and deem it necessary to guard against your enemies, to gain allies, to win either by force or fraud, to be loved and feared by your subjects, to be respected and obeyed by your troops, to annihilate those who can or must attack you, to reform and modernize old institutions, to be severe yet cordial, magnanimous and liberal, to abolish a disloyal militia and create a new one, to preserve the friendship of kings and princes in such a way that they will either favor you graciously or oppose you cautiously-then for such purposes you will not find fresher examples to follow than the actions of this man." Chapter 7, pg. 34

Quote 4: "By such methods one may win dominion but not glory." Chapter 8, pg. 36

Quote 5: "It is the nature of men to feel as much bound by the favors they do as by those they receive." Chapter 10, pg. 43

Quote 7: "The two most essential foundations for any state, whether it be old or new, or both old and new, are sound laws and sound military forces. Now, since the absence of sound laws assures the absence of sound military forces, while the presence of sound military forces indicates the presence of sound laws as well, I shall forego a consideration of laws and discuss military forces instead." Chapter 12, pg. 46

Quote 8: "In the end, the arms of another will fall from your hand, will weigh you down, or restrain you." Chapter 13, pg. 52

Quote 9: "A prince must have no other objective, no other thought, nor take up any profession but that of war, its methods and its discipline, for that is the only art expected of a ruler." Chapter 14, pp. 53-54

Quote 10: "Thus, when fortune turns against him, he will be prepared to resist it." Chapter 14, pg. 55

Quote 11: "Many men have imagined republics and principalities that never really existed at all. Yet the way men live is so far removed from the way they ought to live that anyone who abandons what is for what should be pursues his downfall rather than his preservation; for a man who strives after goodness in all his acts is sure to come to ruin, since there are so many men who are not good." Chapter 15, pg. 56

Quote 12: "The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved." Chapter 17, pg. 60

Quote 13: "I conclude that since men love as they themselves determine but fear as their ruler determines, a wise prince must rely upon what he and not others can control." Chapter 17, pg. 61

Quote 14: "Therefore a prince will not actually need to have all the qualities previously mentioned, but he must surely seem to have them. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that having them all and always conforming to them would be harmful, while appearing to have them would be useful." Chapter 18, pg. 63

Quote 15: "From it a noteworthy lesson may be drawn: princes should delegate unpopular duties to others while dispensing all favors directly themselves. I say again that a prince must respect the nobility, but avoid the hatred of the common people." Chapter 19, pg. 67

Quote 16: "Nevertheless, since our free will must not be denied, I estimate that even if fortune is the arbiter of half our actions, she still allows us to control the other half, or thereabouts." Chapter 25, pg. 84

Quote 17: "for fortune is a woman and in order to be mastered she must be jogged and beaten." Chapter 25, pg. 86

Quote 18: "I cannot describe with how much love, with what thirst for revenge, with what resolute loyalty, with what tenderness, with what tears he would be received in all those provinces which have endured these foreign hordes. What gates would be closed to him? What people would deny him obedience? Whose envy would oppose him? What Italian would withhold his allegiance?" Chapter 26, pg. 90